Elia Viviani took control of the Abu Dhabi Tour as he won Stage 2 in a sprint finish ahead of Danny van Poppel and Pascal Ackermann on Thursday.

The win moved Quick-Step Floors rider Viviani to the top of the General Classification, tied on time with now-second-ranked Alexander Kristoff, with the UAE Team Emirates rider finishing seventh, as LottoNL-Jumbo rider Van Poppel moved into third at four seconds adrift.

Italian Viviani and Norwegian Kristoff did well to get in on the enthralling finale following a chaotic stage dominated by windy conditions.

After the initial breakaway group had been caught, three separate groups formed in echelons to combat fierce crosswinds, with Viviani and Kristoff struggling in testing conditions in the third group.

But both stormed back into contention inside the final 20km, with winner Viviani praising the work of his Quick-Step colleagues.

“I need to break the ice on the first day of a stage race. Usually, I don’t win the first sprint. It’s been the case again but I was very confident today,” said the 2016 Olympic track champion.

“Also in the echelons, I felt strong and I was willing to pull. We had Julian Alaphilippe and Enric Mas in the front group. It was good for our GC but we also wanted to win the stage, so I asked the guys to wait for me and close the gap.

“When we regrouped with 20km to go, I said we put all our efforts into the last corner. Young Alvaro Hodeg is unbelievable in his preparation for my sprint.

“Michael Morkov is always in the right place and I trust Fabio Sabatini 100 per cent for the lead out. With such a team, it was easy for me to finish it off.”

A five-man break group dominated the first half of the race, from Yas Island to Yas Beach (148km), but they were caught again at the feed zone.

Movistar and Katusha-Alpecin took advantage of crosswinds to rip the race wide open, dropping not only race leader Kristoff and Viviani but several GC candidates.

Elia Viviani’s win earned him the overall race lead.

But, after a furious chase, the race finally came back together within the final kilometers, leading to the expected mass sprint finish.

On the podium Viviani was rewarded with the race leader’s red jersey, as well as the points leader’s green jersey.

European champion Kristoff, meanwhile, said: “Today I didn’t have the same power as I had yesterday. There were other guys passing me and Viviani was very fast, but I was happy to fight for a good position today.

“The team put me in a positive position and I was in the mix with the other riders. We have another race tomorrow to try and grab a win in what should be a good day for the sprinters.”